A teenage rapist described as being "a serious danger to children" by probation experts has been allowed to walk away from Bradford Crown Court.

Releasing Carl Walker, 19, on bail pending a mental health report, Judge Jennifer Kershaw QC told him he faced an "indefinite sentence" to protect the public.

But the decision was condemned by an MP and councillors in the area to which he was bailed.

Walker was convicted by a jury last month of two charges of raping a seven-year-old girl and one of indecently assaulting her.

Judge Kershaw yesterday heard he had previously been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and treated in a Bradford hospital, but had still not admitted he had carried out the offences.

The court was told that the probation service viewed Walker as presenting a high risk of harm to the public and a serious risk to children.

The judge's decision to grant Walker bail to an address in Leeds Road, Windhill, Shipley, was condemned by the town's MP Philip Davies.

He said: "I am absolutely appalled that someone this ill will be walking the streets of Bradford when he has quite clearly carried out such an awful crime and is recognised as a danger to the public.

"This is what I go on about week in and week out in parliament - about how the public are being put at risk unnecessarily because people who should be in prison are not.

"There is no excuse to let him out on bail and the street. If he has mental health problems clearly that needs to be sorted but that should be behind bars."

Ward councillors also spoke of their concern.

Councillor Phillip Thornton (Lab, Windhill and Wrose) said: "The local community will be incredibly concerned about this and I am as well.

"If there is concern enough to have these reports drawn up, he should be held in custody until he is sentenced.

"It is a very serious situation and should be treated accordingly. There seems to be inconsistency in the way this case is being handled. It makes a bit of a mockery of the justice system,"

Councillor John Watmough (Lib Dem, Windhill and Wrose) said: "I think he should have been kept in custody.

"My concern is for the people in my ward, particularly those living nearby."

After his conviction, Walker was first bailed to Dalby House, Oakwood Avenue, Bolton Woods, Bradford, for the preparation of a probation service report.

But because he had still not admitted the offences there was no strategy to put in place to help him, the court was told yesterday.

Judge Kershaw said it was "more than likely" Walker would be locked up indefinitely for the protection of the public.

If a sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection is passed, Walker would not be released until the Parole Board ruled he did not pose a risk to the public and children in particular.

Walker was found guilty at Bradford Crown Court on May 8 after a four-day trial.

He groomed the girl by kissing her before climbing into bed with her and raping her.

Judge Kershaw further adjourned sentencing for a report into Walker's mental health after learning he had been sectioned and treated at Lynfield Mount hospital for depression. Doctors there are being asked to compile a new report on him.

He was re-bailed to a date in late July and ordered to live at the Shipley address. He must co-operate with doctors compiling the report.

The court heard Walker had given up his previous address ahead of the sentencing hearing.

Prosecutor Jonathan Devlin said Walker's victim was now nine years old. She complained to her family at the time but no action was taken.

Walker's barrister, Sukhbir Basra, said he continued to maintain his innocence. The offences happened on one day and he had not behaved in the same way before or since.

Walker, a former volunteer with the Salvation Army, was a very young man at the time and had no convictions for similar offences.

After the hearing, Simon Watson, a spokesman for West Yorkshire Probation Service, said: "We do not comment on individual cases but in such a case, where an offender is unable to admit to his/her guilt or take responsibility for his/her actions, the probation service would not put that offender on to a treatment programme.

"You cannot treat somebody if they are denying they need to be treated, but they would be subject to control management through the MAPPA multi-agency public protection arrangements process, focusing on the risks they pose."

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said that after a defendant was convicted it would not ordinarily make representation to the court about bail.

She added: "The judge must have recognised that there was not a risk of him breaching his bail conditions. He was turning up at court on time for the hearings."

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